Best Merlin Alternatives in 2026

Updated October 2026

20 apps from AI chatbots and assistants ranked against Merlin on the same published basis.

Merlin alternatives compared

#	App	Score	Free plan	From	Runs on
1	ChatGPT	9.7	Free plan	Free	Android, iOS, Mac, Web, Windows
2	Perplexity	9.7	Free plan	$20/mo	Android, API, iOS, Mac, Web, Windows
3	Microsoft Copilot	9.5	Free plan	$8.33/mo	Web, Windows, Mac, iOS, Android
4	Gemini	9.4	Free plan	Free	Web, Windows, Mac, iOS, Android
5	Poe	9.4	Free plan	Free	Android, API, iOS, Mac, Web, Windows
6	Grok	9.3	Free plan	Free	Web, iOS, Android
8	DeepSeek	8.8	Free plan	Free	Web, iOS, Android
9	Amazon Q	8.8	Free plan	—	Web, Android
10	LobeChat	8.8	Free plan	$9.90/mo	Android, iOS, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Web, Windows
11	Kimi	8.7	No	—	Web, Windows, Mac, iOS, Android
12	Lumo	8.7	Free plan	Free	Web, iOS, Android
13	AnythingLLM	8.6	Free plan	—	Android, API, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Web, Windows
14	Meta AI	8.5	No	—	Web, Mac, iOS, Android
15	Sider	8.5	No	—	Web, Windows, Mac, iOS, Android
16	Venice AI	8.5	Free plan	$18/mo	Android, API, iOS, Web
17	Doubao	8.4	No	—	Web, Windows, Mac, iOS, Android
18	Qwen Chat	8.3	No	—	Web, Windows, Mac, iOS, Android
19	Wenxiaoyan	8.3	No	—	Windows, Mac, iOS, Web
20	Vibe	8.3	Free plan	$14.99/mo	Web, Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android
21	Open WebUI	8.2	No	—	Web, iOS, Android

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What is the best alternative to Merlin?

ChatGPT, number 1 in AI chatbots and assistants with a score of 9.7 out of 10. The others here: Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, Gemini and 16 more.

What is the best free alternative to Merlin?

ChatGPT is the best-ranked alternative with a free plan. 13 of the 20 alternatives here publish a free plan on their own pricing pages.

How are these alternatives ranked?

Ranked mobile-first: a phone app alongside the web or desktop product, a free tier and the depth of its documentation.